Carlos, Rob

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As a precocious two year old, Rob Carlos was writing and drawing on any blank surface with anything that would mark it (much to his parents’ dismay). He loved superheroes and was particularly drawn (no pun intended) to Spiderman and Batman – his mother once told me that she started taping huge sheets of paper to the walls for him to draw on to both be able to keep his young artwork and to also protect these surfaces.
Rob kept with his artwork, learning other media besides crayons and markers, throughout his primary school years. In high school, his creative nature led him into the world of Dungeons and Dragons.

When he wasn’t creating art, he was playing with friends – which only fueled his imagination with more interesting characters and creatures to illustrate and bring to life (and yes – he still plays when he can, but finds himself the Dungeon Master to our woebegone group of adventurers instead of playing. Don’t feel too badly for him, however. He is still using the games to fuel his artistic endeavors).

Rob started college in the mid-80s in New York at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) as a mechanical engineering major. He was told there was no money in art and thought he would make his living in a different field. However, after a short time, he found his way back into the art scene and transferred his major to fine art/illustration. He did not feel like he was learning much and could not relate to his instructors, so he left RIT and headed to Florida to try and get into the animation department at Disney.

Needless to say, Disney did not work out for Rob and he next found himself working as a graphic designer for a local printing company. He was working there when I met him – and still playing D&D with friends and drawing and painting whenever possible. Unfortunately, the printing company went bankrupt and he was unemployed. That was when I told him to just concentrate on his art. He started selling prints on his website and was asked to do some paintings for the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time TCG. In 2001, we came to the Puget Sound area.

Rob has a fairly extensive web site and has worked briefly with other forms of fantasy role playing games. Recently, Add an Accent® has begun working with Rob to offer six of his dragons as beautiful pewter figurines. They have also started putting his artwork on ceramic tiles.
In 2007, Rob started showing his work at local science fiction and fantasy and gaming conventions. He is continuing the trend in 2008. Rob will continue to draw and breathe life into characters, monsters, and fantastical creatures for as long as they keep telling him their stories. May the stories never die…